Criminal justice reporter

An Athens woman was sentenced on Wednesday in Clarke County Superior Court to life in prison for killing her newborn son immediately after giving birth in November 2012.

Cassandra Elyse Norwood, 23, was convicted in a jury trial last week of malice murder for the death of Josiah Lucas Norwood, the name posthumously given to the child.

Norwood will be eligible for parole after she serves 30 years in prison.

Western Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney David Lock argued during the sentencing hearing that Norwood posed a danger to society and did not deserve the possibility of someday being released from prison.

Lock said that the pregnancy Norwood kept hidden from her family and ended with the child’s stabbing death was a premeditated murder nine months in the making. He said that prior to giving birth in a bedroom, Norwood showed more planning by getting a butcher knife from the kitchen along with a trash bag, which Lock called Josiah Norwood’s “casket.”

“Her choice to willfully and wantonly kill her newborn baby in this manner deserves no less than life without parole,” the prosecutor said.

But prior to passing sentence, Judge H. Patrick Haggard heard testimony from Norwood’s parents, her sisters and several supporters that the killing was out of character for someone they described as compassionate, religious and without violent tendencies.

Beverly Norwood, the victim’s mother, testified that she will never be able to understand what her daughter had done, but believes her capable of redemption.

“We as a family love Cassandra as much as we always have,” Beverly Norwood said.

She called what happened a “dual tragedy” because she lost a grandson and the companionship of a daughter.

Ginger Norwood called her sister “kind-hearted, fun loving and a gentle soul.”

Norwood’s other sister, Bethany Norwood, also professed her continuing love when asking the judge for leniency.

“One mistake does not define a lifetime,” she said.

The judge told Norwood that he was leaving it up to the Board of Pardons and Paroles to determine how long she remains in prison.

“I believe there was some plan to kill that child,” Haggard said. “I see this as the ultimate selfish act.

“But I’ll also say this, that I do believe there is some distinction between this selfish act and true evil,” the judge continued. “I cannot sit here and say that there was true evil throughout this.”

The death of Josiah Norwood culminated what authorities said was a pregnancy Norwood kept hidden throughout its duration.

Norwood’s father once took her to be examined by a gynecologist, who later told police that the pregnancy was confirmed. But at the time, authorities said Norwood had signed a form requesting that information concerning her exam remain confidential, even from family members.

Sometime after the pregnancy exam, a woman purporting to be Norwood’s mother called the doctor’s office to inform them that their services were no longer needed since the family planned to move out of state, authorities said.

After killing the infant, authorities said Norwood cleaned up the blood and placed the baby with bloody towels in a trash bag.

When Norwood’s family members noticed blood on the floor, the woman explained it was from an unusually heavy menstrual cycle, said authorities. Norwood’s parents were concerned about the amount of blood they found, so they took her to the hospital.

After her parents left for the hospital, authorities said one of Norwood’s sisters found the lifeless newborn and called 911. The parents were at the hospital with Norwood when police informed them there was a dead infant in their home.

Despite Norwood’s defense that the death was accidental, caused when she tried cutting the umbilical cord, a medical examiner determined a number of the 19 wounds the newborn suffered could have been fatal.

Norwood did not address the judge during the sentencing hearing. She was “too nervous and embarrassed,” her attorney said.

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